16012023-JTR-01.qxd 1/16/2023 12:12 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune HOW TO PROTECT THE HOMELESS FROM COLD? MISS USA R’BONNEY GABRIEL IS MISS UNIVERSE Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel was on Sunday crowned the new Miss Universe. P3 CLEAR SKY MAX 15°C | MIN 3°C YESTERDAY MAX 14°C | MIN 4°C SREEJITA DE BIDS ADIEU TO BIGG BOSS 16 AGAIN Administration and citizens need to work jointly to alleviate sufferings of the underprivileged: Residents P2 FORECAST Salman Khan invited contestants to burn the Lohri bonfire, after which Sreejita De was evicted. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 5.45 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:19 AM » MONDAY | 16 JANUARY 2023 | JALANDHAR ‘Corporationsaadi banegi’ late , MP told Cong men in last meet Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with local party leaders during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: MALKIAT SINGH MLAs put up power show during yatra Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 15 The Jalandhar Congress councillors, MLAs and exMLAs put up their shows of strength at various locations as Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through the city this evening. Since it was Sunday and most markets and offices were shut, several stops were created by the leaders after short distances where the party workers and supporters had gathered to have a peak at the yatra. Arrangement for tea and snacks was done till Rahul’s yatra passed by. As the yatra was not scheduled to move past the area of Jalandhar West, exMLA Sushil Rinku had set up such a halt point near the railway crossing on Ladowali Road. A little ahead near PUDA parking, Jalandhar Central ex-MLA Rajinder Beri, too, had made a similar arrangement. Olympian and Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh and Jalandhar North MLA Bawa Henry walked almost the entire stretch of yatra with Rahul. Kartarpur ex-MLA HAD VISION FOR DOABA ■ When he was re-elected again in 2019, the late MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh had told The Tribune that “My first priority is to make sure that the energy of the youths is tapped here. It is a common phenomenon in Doaba that youngsters are moving abroad. I want to stop this.” ■ He wanted to bring heavy industry to Doaba to help put the economic growth of Jalandhar on fast track and generate employment. He also wanted the youth of the region to become entrepreneurs. The MP had asked the councillors to reach out to people and ask about their Tribune News Service Farm unions to block rail, road traffic today Jalandhar, January 15 Rohan Kumar, a student of BA-III at DAV College, Jalandhar, bagged the first runnerup position in the music contest ‘Voice of Punjab - Season 13’ organised by PTC Punjabi Television recently. Rohan was honoured with a prize of Rs 50,000 by famous singer Master Salim and music director Sachin Ahuja. Congratulating Rohan for the achievement, college principal Dr Rajesh Kumar said: “I am fully confident that the talented student will add more glory to the name of our college by the magic of his voice on the international stage in the future.” He also congratulated the parents of the winning student, his music teacher Madan Mander, Prof Reena, and Prof Rajan Sharma (Dean, EMA) for giving training and guidance to the student. Singers Jagjit Singh, Hansraj Hans, Sukhwinder Singh, Punjabi folk singer Diljan, etc., are notable names among the students of this college who have proved their talent at the international level in the field of music. —TNS Jalandhar, January 15 The Pendu Mazdoor Union, Punjab, held a labour rally at Mallian village in Jalandhar demanding the rights of labourers and to mobilise support for the rail and highway jam planned at Dhannowali on Monday in support of the people displaced in Latifpura. Labourers and farm activists, during the meeting, decided to hold the protest on the various pending demands of labourers. The key demands include distribution of more than 17.5 acres among landless farmers as per law, provision of a third of panchayat land to Dalits, allotment of residential plots to the needy, waiver of government, co-operative and non-government loans of farmers, bringing labourers out of debts, increasing daily wages of labourers to Rs 700 and stopping social exploitation of labourers. Union leaders said the Bhagwant Mann government which had come to power on the promise of change was instead adopting a completely different path of governance. Rather than providing ownership to Latifpura’s displaced families, the gov- DAV student first runner-up in Voice of Punjab Rahul Gandhi pays obeisance at Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar on Sunday; (R) a little girl greets the Congress leader. Surinder Singh Chaudhary faced issues as the security personnel resisted his entry into the cordoned off part of the yatra. Some children had put up stalls of kites along the roadside. Rahul invited a girl from among them near him and talked to her. The Congress leader also interacted with the hockey players at Lyallpur Khalsa College just ahead of the start of the yatra. SNARL-UPS ADD TO COMMUTERS’ WOES City residents faced traffic issues in several areas as the main entry points and intersections remained barricaded by the police teams. Those passing through PAP Chowk remained affected for a long time. The police had diverted the traffic through alternate routes. The road to railway station also got blocked for a long time as the yatra was to pass close to it upto Domoria bridge and towards Kishanpura Chowk, Doaba Chowk, KMV College road and Pathankot Chowk. On the run, immigration firm owner in cops’ net Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 15 Sumit Kumar, the owner of Shine Visa Consultancy, who was booked by the Model Town police recently for running immigration business in the city without requisite documents and valid licence, has been arrested. An FIR was registered against him under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act 2014 on December 14. The Model Town police were on patrol at Model Town on the night of December 14 when they received a tip-off that Sumit, who is allegedly involved in duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad on tourist visa and work permit, was present at his office near Dera Satkartar. Police officials raided both his offices based at Model Town and near BMC Chowk and seized a printer and two laptops. A passport and other documents, including a few Jalandhar, January 15 ‘ Corporation saadi banegi’, these were the words of the late MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh during his last meeting with all councillors to review the Municipal Corporation’s performance and strategy to win the upcoming elections a month ago. Chaudhary, who died yesterday during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, had held a meeting with MLAs, councillors and leaders of the Congress party and celebrated the party’s victory in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. Besides, a discussion was held regarding the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections. The late MP was confident that people would vote for the Congress again as they were regretting their decision of voting the Aam Aadmi Party to power. “Major city projects in the city have got stalled because of the present government,” he had said while talking to The Tribune. problems. He had mentioned about the Bharat Jodo Yatra and said discussions were held over the mobilisation of people to join the yatra. When he was re-elected again in 2019, Chaudhary gave interview to this correspondent and had said he was being made a ‘villain’ on the Ganna village issue, the condition of which was very poor despite the fact that MP had adopted the village. “My first priority is to make sure that the energy of the youths is tapped here. It is a common phenomenon in Doaba that youngsters are moving abroad. I want to stop this. So, my idea is to bring heavy industry here, which will help in the economic growth of Jalandhar and generate employment. I also want the youth of the region to become entrepreneurs. An AIIMS-like hospital will be opened here. Completion of the smart city project, tackling pollution and traffic problems will be other priorities,” he had shared. ‘AIDE’ OF TRAVEL AGENT WHO FACES 125 FIRs Sources said accused Sumit Kumar was the right-hand of Ludhiana-based travel agent Nitish Ghai, who was arrested by CIA team of Jalandhar police in July. Nitish has over 125 FIRs registered against him across Punjab for allegedly duping youth on the pretext of sending them abroad. visas, were also recovered. As per sources in the police, Sumit was the right-hand of Ludhiana-based travel agent Nitish Ghai, who was arrested by CIA team of Jalandhar police in July. Nitish had over 125 FIRs registered against him across Punjab for allegedly duping youth on the pretext of sending them abroad. Both Nitish and Sumit had allegedly amassed huge properties, charging the youth heavily on fake assurances of arranging work permits and immigration abroad. The city police will also be nominating Nitish in the FIR against Sumit. Both of them used social media to publicize their business. Whenever any person used to contact them for visarelated query, they used to make fake assurances of sending them abroad even on 5 bands. A number of such victims, whom this correspondent contacted, said they paid lakhs of rupees to him for sending them to Canada, America and the UK either on study or work visas. They said after receiving the amount, the employees working in his office never used to take their calls and even when they visited his office, they used to make one or the other excuse and ask them to visit again. Model Town ACP Randhi Kumar, confirming his arrest said, he had duped a number of people from Punjab on the pretext of arranging study or work visas. He said the police are interrogating him over his involvement in more such cases, and the investigation is underway. Speeding SUV kills man Phagwara, January 15 The Nakodar city police have booked an unidentified SUV driver on charges of causing death by negligence, rash driving and mischief. Santosh Kumar, the wife of Sonu, the victim — has alleged that her husband was returning home after work in Nakodar. When he reached close to the Agarwal Pastry store, a speeding SUV hit Sonu’s motor cycle. A case has been registered under Sections 304-A, 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC. — OC WANT RELIEF FOR LATIFPURA RESIDENTS ■ Union leaders demanded that Latifpura displaced must be rehabilitated in the same area from where they were displaced ■ They said the Bhagwant Mann government which had come to power on the promise of change was instead adopting a completely different path of governance ernment ran bulldozers over their houses. Leaders demanded that Latifpura displaced must be rehabilitated in the same area from where they were displaced. Their losses should be compensated and action should be taken against the senior cop who misbehaved with them. They also gave a call to people to participate in big numbers during the rail and highway blockade to be held at Dhannowali on Monday to extend support to Latifpura displaced and protest the government’s actions against them. Union secretary Kashmir Singh Ghugshore, tehsil vice-president Balwinder Kaur Dyalpur and Kulwant Singh Bheekhananagal among others were present on the occasion. —TNS Mann’s wife celebrates ‘Dhiyan di Lohri’ at Talwann Our Correspondent Phagwara, January 15 Dr Gurpreet Kaur, wife of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Sunday visited Talwann village near Nurmahal to celebrate Lohri of newly born girls with villagers. She lit a bonfire and celebrated the festival with one and all. Nakodar MLA Inderjit Kaur Mann, Kartarpur MLA Balkar Singh and Jalandhar West MLA Seetal Angural were also present with her. Interacting with locals, Dr Gurpreet Kaur said it was the need of the hour to educate and empower girls for making India a frontrunner on the path of development and as Lohri is a celebration of Pun- c m y b SAYS GOVT HAS TAKEN VARIOUS STEPS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT Dr Gurpreet Kaur, wife of CM Bhagwant Mann, with residents of Talwann village near Nurmahal. jab roots and soil, she decided to travel to Talwann village to celebrate the festival. She told them that the state government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had taken various initiatives for women empowerment and lauded the initiative of organising ‘Dhiyan di Lohri’. Doctor Kaur underlined the need for such efforts throughout the year to fight social evils and said such functions were in line with the path shown by the Sikh Gurus, who taught us to respect women. She told residents that this festival has immense significance for all as it strengthens our ethos of communal harmony, peace, and brotherhood.